Slide Show: Exoskeletons Give New Life to Legs

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VERY SUPPORTIVE The Bodyweight Support Assist cannot hold the user's entire weight, and so does not allow sitting. When crouching, it exerts a maximum of 70 pounds (about 32 kilograms) of upward force, directed at the user's center of gravity.

The device is being tested for potential industrial applications; it may reduce fatigue in, for instance, factory workers who must crouch for a significant portion of the day.

VICIOUS CIRCLE OF IMMOBILITY As the user stands up, he or she lifts the saddle into place. Despite the fact that the Bodyweight Support Assist weighs about 14 pounds (6.5 kilograms), it feels much lighter due to the force of the motors that drive the saddle upward when the device is first put on.

BODYWEIGHT SUPPORT ASSIST When it is off, the Bodyweight Support Assist rests in a crouch position. The black package running under the thighs of each leg are the lithium ion batteries that power the device—they're good for two hours of continuous operation.

CRUISE CONTROL FOR PEOPLE Turning on the Stride Management Assist is a simple matter of hitting a pair of switches, one on either side of the hip joints containing the silent electric motors that power the device.

STRIDE MANAGEMENT ASSIST The Stride Management Assist is easy to put on, according to its inventors, but ScientificAmerican.com didn't get a chance to try it out, because of parts missing from the large-size version of the device. (It comes in three sizes, suitable for hips ranging in size from 12 to 15 inches, or 30.5 to 38 centimeters, across.)

COMBO COMING? The engineers at the event said that Honda has no plans to combine the Stride Management Assist and the Bodyweight Walking Assist, or to transform them into that ultimate geek fantasy—a robotic, body power–magnifying exoskeleton.

GOING DOWN One of the most remarkable things about the device is that you can actually feel it dynamically adjusting to your every movement. Walking with the device on is fairly natural, if a bit slow. (It feels a bit like walking through waist-deep water.)

Walking up stairs is an entirely different proposition—as you take a step upward and then shift your weight to raise the trailing leg, the force exerted by the device on both feet increases noticeably and then decreases appropriately as you complete the step.

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